Ohio and Texas - The Beginning of Our GOP General Election Campaign

Springfield News Sun: Veteran Lawmaker Can Help GOP Regain Nation's Trust

By Editorial

Springfield News Sun (OH)
March 3, 2008

If Clark and Champaign County Republicans want their candidate to hold the White House in November, they should run and not walk to the polls Tuesday to vote for Arizona Sen. John McCain.

He is the most capable GOP candidate the party has nominated since Bob Dole, and he has a realistic vision for how he would lead this country. The race for the Republican nomination is all but over and McCain has rightly been chosen by GOP voters as the best in the field.

But a strong showing by GOP voters Tuesday is what the McCain campaign needs in order to compete for votes from a general electorate that clearly is seeking a change in the direction of this country.
***

[Note: According to multiple sources close to the Huckabee campaign, Governor Huckabee will bow out of the GOP 2008 primary race tonight or tomorrow. A number of his staffers were let go just before the weekend as a sign that things were winding down. Congratulations Governor Huckabee on your campaign and persistence. Now, we hope you do your part to help people come together to ensure a GOP victory for Senator McCain in November.]

Virginia Supreme Court Upholds First in the Nation Felony SPAM Conviction

Early cutting-edge efforts by former Attorney General and Virginia Co-Chairman for the McCain '08 campaign Jerry Kilgore pay off and Attorney General Bob McDonnell brings it home!

McDonnell Announces Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Nation’s First Felony SPAM Conviction
February 29, 2008
www.vaag.com

Richmond- Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced today that the Virginia Supreme Court has upheld the nation’s first felony SPAM conviction. “SPAM” refers to unsolicited bulk email sent by fraudulent means.

In November of 2004, Jeremy Jaynes was convicted by a jury in Loudoun County Circuit Court on three counts of violating Virginia’s groundbreaking Anti-Spam Act, which was passed into law in 2003. This marked the first ever felony conviction in a SPAM case, and the case received international attention. After convicting the defendant, the same jury sentenced him to serve nine years in jail. The defendant appealed his conviction. In September of 2006 the Virginia Court of Appeals affirmed the constitutionality of Virginia’s Anti-SPAM Statute and upheld the conviction. The Virginia Supreme Court today upheld this decision.

Speaking about today’s decision, Attorney General McDonnell remarked, “This is a historic victory in the fight against online crime. SPAM not only clogs email inboxes and destroys productivity; it also defrauds citizens and threatens the online revolution that is so critical to Virginia’s economic prosperity. Thanks to the Virginia Anti-SPAM Act we now have the tools to go after Spammer’s and put them behind bars.”

McDonnell continued, “I want to specifically thank my predecessor, Jerry Kilgore, for proposing the Anti-SPAM Act, and ensuring its passage. I also want to thank him for securing the initial conviction of Jeremy Jaynes. What was accomplished today would not have been possible without the leadership of Jerry Kilgore. I also want to thank my Computer Crime Section for their steadfast work on this case. Virginia is leading the nation in the effort to keep citizens safe and secure online.”

Former Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, added, “Today’s decision marks a huge step forward in the effort to safeguard the Internet from online criminals. SPAM slows down commerce, fills up inboxes, and entraps innocent citizens. I applaud this decision, and I especially thank the dedicated lawyers in the Office of the Attorney General who began this fight when I was in office, and have successfully completed it today under the direction of Attorney General McDonnell.”

Chuck Curran, AOL’s Chief Counsel for Policy & Regulatory, noted, "We are pleased that the Virginia Supreme Court has upheld Mr. Jaynes’ conviction under the Virginia Computer Crimes Act and we applaud the tireless efforts of Attorney General McDonnell, former Attorney General Kilgore, and their entire prosecutorial team to hold large-scale spammers accountable. In 2003, Attorney General Kilgore and Virginia legislators worked together with the industry to adopt first-in-the-nation felony penalties for junk e-mailers who send large quantities of spam by falsified means. Tough anti-spam laws like Virginia’s provide a critical deterrent for spammers who try to fill e-mail boxes with unwanted and fraudulent solicitations.”

Jeremy D. Jaynes was regarded as the eighth-worst spammer in the world on The Spamhaus Project’s Registry of Known Spammer Organizations at the time of his arrest. At the time, prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Computer Crime Section argued to the jury that Jaynes, utilizing AOL’s private computer network, located in Virginia, peddled his products to unsuspecting victims from around the world. His global fraud resulted in millions of dollars of profit which he used to purchase a mansion and a number of homes in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jaynes was convicted thanks to Virginia’s Anti-Spam Act. The Act prohibits the sending of unsolicited bulk e-mail by fraudulent means, such as changing the header or routing information to prevent recipients from contacting or determining the identity of the sender. Such conduct is punishable as a class 1 misdemeanor or as a class 6 felony if any one of the following conditions applies:

• The volume of Spam transmitted exceeds 10,000 in any 24-hour time period, 100,000 in any 30-day time period, or one million in any one-year time period.
• Revenue generated from specific Spam exceeds $1,000 or total revenue from all Spam transmitted to any ISP exceeds $50,000.
• The defendant knowingly hires, employs, uses or permits any minor to assist in the transition of Spam.

A class 6 felony is punishable by a one to five-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $2,500, or both. Virginia’s anti-SPAM legislation also includes asset forfeiture provisions to allow law enforcement authorities to seize any assets or proceeds obtained through the illegal Spam operation. It also enhances penalties for violation of Virginia obscenity laws through the sending of illegal e-mails. The legislation authorizes the Attorney General’s Computer Crime Section to investigate and prosecute Spammers if illegal e-mails are sent to, from, or through any computer or computer network located in any Virginia locality.

To learn more about the Computer Crime Unit and Virginia’s groundbreaking anti-SPAM laws, please visit: http://www.vaag.com/CONSUMER/SPAM/index.html

To read the full Virginia Supreme Court Opinion, please visit:
http://www.courts.state.va.us/opinions/opnscvwp/1062388.pdf

Cal Thomas: Virginia Leading the Nation-Deporting Illegal Alien Sexual Predators

As we mentioned here, deporting illegally alien child sexual predators is immigration enforcement that we can all agree on. Now, Virginia has been recognized nationally as a leader of enforcement measures that we can all agree on.

National Columnist Praises McDonnell's Immigration Initiative
From the McDonnell Newsroom
February, 28, 2008

Nationally syndicated columnist Cal Thomas has written a column about Attorney General McDonnell's recent action to identify and deport criminal alien sex offenders in Virginia. Thomas is America's most widely syndicated newspaper columnist. His column appears in over 550 newspapers nationwide, and he is heard on over 300 radio stations. To read today's column please visit:

Click here to see the full article appearing in today's Orlando Sentinel

Deport sex offenders who are illegal aliens
By Cal Thomas
Thursday, February 28, 2008

The argument one hears most often for not enforcing illegal immigration laws is that we can't deport the estimated 12 million people already in this country. It just isn't physically, tactically or politically possible, say people who think this way.

Maybe not, but authorities can start with people who not only broke laws to get here, but are breaking more laws now that they are here.

Virginia's Republican Attorney General, Robert McDonnell, is beginning the deportation process with a class of people not even the most vehemently pro-immigrant activist should defend. They are sex offenders and McDonnell, working in cooperation with the Virginia State Police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, has identified 171 people who have been convicted of sex crimes. Some are illegal aliens, others have legal status, but their convictions violate the conditional terms of their residency and make them subject to deportation.

In a telephone interview from Richmond, McDonnell told me that because federal statutes have pre-empted what states can do on most immigration issues, Virginia had to look for ways to initiate deportation of criminal sex offenders while working with the federal government. Asked whether the targeting of illegal alien sex offenders is the first step toward going after other criminal aliens, McDonnell said, "We're planning to do all of them. My position is that criminal illegal aliens or criminal aliens have forfeited their right to be in the country. There is broad agreement, regardless of which side people are on in the illegal immigration debate, that the criminal alien should be detained and deported."

In addition to checking on the immigration status of everyone released from a Virginia prison, McDonnell says people convicted of crimes will now be investigated for their residency status before they are locked up, possibly allowing the federal government to deport them prior to their serving all of their sentence. One northern Virginia jurisdiction with a high illegal alien population is the city of Manassas. In response to intense citizen complaints, the Manassas City Council has authorized local police to begin checking the immigration status of people they arrest for any crime. If they find the suspects are in the country illegally, they are now authorized to begin deportation proceedings. On March 3, neighboring Prince William County will begin implementing a similar program to crackdown on illegals. These two jurisdictions are in sync with what McDonnell is now doing statewide.

Immigrant rights leader Ricardo Juarez of Mexicans Without Borders (a name that tells you something about his goal) is quoted in The Washington Examiner newspaper as saying, "This policy will only make the situation worse and will drive people out." Precisely. That is the intent of the program; to drive criminal illegal aliens out, preferably back to where they came from and especially if they have twice violated our laws.

Not all of the Virginia sex offenders fit the demographic stereotype. Yes, most are from Mexico, or Central and South American countries, but quite a few are from other nations, including Ethiopia, India, Iran, Thailand, even Scotland. So this is not about ethnicity. It is about breaking the law.

The issue of illegal immigration and most especially that of criminal aliens should be a major issue in the presidential campaign. It is bad enough when immigration activists countenance the breaking of our laws and defend people who do it; it is something else when they attempt to defend sex offenders and others who have broken other laws while here.

There is no right to come to America, but there is an obligation to obey the same laws everyone else has to obey or suffer the consequences. Virginia and at least two of its jurisdictions are onto something. Other states and localities might wish to consider a similar approach.

The federal government seems to be getting the message. Perhaps shamed by Virginia, immigration officials, according to the Washington Post, are now actively "scouring jails and courts nationwide" to identify immigrants who qualify for deportation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reports that in a 12-month period ending last Sept. 30, "it placed 164,000 criminals in deportation proceedings," an increase from the 64,000 the agency identified and placed in deportation proceedings the previous year. ICE "estimates the number will rise to 200,000 this year." It's a start.

Cal Thomas is co-author (with Bob Beckel) of the forthcoming book, "Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America."

Democrat-controlled Virginia Senate Passes Cuccinelli's Pro-Life Legislation Defeating Saslaw and Kaine Efforts-A Last Gift from W.F. Buckley, Jr!

February 27, 2008

Dear Fellow Republican:

For the first time this year, the Republicans got one of our budget amendments adopted! It was my budget amendment to deny taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood. This is an amendment that has been before the Senate before, but it has never been successfully passed in the Senate.

This year, however, was different. Our Republican caucus stuck together in support of the Planned Parenthood amendment, and we were joined by Finance Committee Chairman, Democrat Chuck Colgan to reach a 20-20 tie. Not surprisingly, Lt. Gov. Bolling voted for the amendment, and it passed 21-20. Now, it wasn’t a simple path to get to 21-20, with about 4 hours of wrangling over procedure, but I’ll discuss that below.

After the consideration of amendments, the budget was passed, but it had the overwhelming opposition of the Republican caucus because it still raids the lottery funds, grabs way too much money from the rainy day fund, and creates new programs (like Gov. Kaine’s pre-K) at the expense of core services like transportation. Oh yeah, and then there’s those gas tax dollars still included…

Tumult
From the moment I put in the amendment today, the Dems were scrambling to try and prevent a vote on the merits on the amendment. They even invented a couple of new motions and tried those out… to no avail.

Then they scoured the House budget for language that was similar to my proposed amendment. The House budget had an amendment to block funding for Medicaid abortions except under limited circumstances (e.g., life of the mother, rape, incest), and the Dems were prepared to argue that because the House abortion funding amendment had been rejected in the Senate (by the Dems), the subject had already been considered and ruled upon under Rule 47 of the Senate Rules.

Now, mind you, I had prepared multiple amendments, including (but not limited to) an amendment to block Medicaid funding of abortions and an amendment to block embryonic stem cell research, both in addition to the Planned Parenthood amendment. And I had already asked the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) staff if there was language in the House budget addressing ANY of these three amendments, as I knew that if they were in the House amendments that I needed to address them at a different point in the process to avoid the Rule 47 trap that the Dems wanted to spring.

The SFC staff told me that there was language in the House budget similar to my amendment to block Medicaid funding of abortions, but there was NOT language like the Planned Parenthood amendment.

One problem was simply that the amendments sounded very similar, so I was worried about losing the amendment on Rule 47 challenge. Thus, I rewrote the amendment to solve that problem, and on we went.

At that point (4 hours later…), the Dems seemed to run out of steam, and we pressed ahead with the amendment. I introduced the amendment and explained it, and then Janet Howell and Dick Saslaw went hyperbolic on us.

Senator Janet Howell (Fairfax Dem) got up and actually argued that passing this amendment would lead to women seeking illegal abortions… though she was quite unable or unwilling to explain how passing the amendment would have such results (presumably because that would not be the result). This kind of baseless hyperbole is about as close as the abortion industry allies in the Senate ever get to actual “debate.” So much for the high minded exchange of views in the Senate.

Then the Majority Leader, Dick Saslaw (Also Fairfax Dem [seeing a pattern here?]), added his own bit of hyperbole by threatening us all with the prospect that if the Planned Parenthood amendment were passed, “your pet project could be next!” Of course, this implies that funding Planned Parenthood is a “pet project” of Senator Saslaw’s… an interesting revelation.

The whole 4+ hour process revealed something more than just disagreement over this amendment. The Dems literally brought the Senate to a screeching halt for over 4 hours to try and derail this little amendment. Why? Because their caucus is now dominated, particularly the leadership (aside from the Finance Committee Chairman), by super-liberal Democrats that are happily beholden to the most vigorously pro-abortion elements of their base (and I distinguish that from those that are merely pro-choice on the issue). This is consistent with their stacking of the Education & Health Committee 10-5, a partisan margin wider than any other committee in the entire Senate. Why did they do that? To kill any bill that had ANYTHING to do with abortion, and that’s exactly what they’re doing.

The budget debate will next move to the conference committee. The Senators that I understand will be on the conference committee will be Colgan, Houck, Howell, Saslaw, Stosch and Wampler. I don’t know who the House conferees will be yet. The conferees will begin trying to resolve the differences between the two budgets over the next week.

Note that all of this is begin done with a Governor in the background who has been using the budget as a political payoff to Planned Parenthood since the 2007 election. Gov. Kaine cut abstinence funding while keeping Planned Parenthood funding. I guess that tells you who’s side Gov. Kaine is on.

We may be half way through the path to a final budget, so we’ll see what happens the rest of the way. In closing, I must say that I appreciated my entire caucus sticking out the sparring over the Planned Parenthood amendment and voting for the amendment. It was clear half way through the day that one side or the other was going to break, and thanks to a united caucus, it was the Dems.

Sincerely,




Senator Ken Cuccinelli
Virginia 37th District

Others can sign up for The Compass at Senator Cuccinelli’s website at: http://www.cuccinelli.com/

God Rest Ye Soul William F. Buckley, Jr. (1925-2008)

From the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute:

A beloved icon of conservatism, William F. Buckley, Jr. passed away this morning at home in his study. “Mr. Buckley once told me that he knew Clare Boothe Luce would be proud of the Institute’s work,” said Michelle Easton, president of the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute. “What an honor that this founder of the modern conservative movement supported our work for America’s women.”

Clare Boothe Luce was an admirer of Buckley—and he of her. And no wonder. Buckley’s philosophy, intellect and courage contributed so extraordinarily to the rise of the conservative movement. “Truly a man before his time, Mr. Buckley genuinely appreciated all the strong women who touched his life, personally and professionally,” says Easton. “We will miss him dearly.”

Rest in peace, Mr. Buckley.

Bob McDonnell Online Op-Ed: Getting Things Done

McDonnell Online Op-Ed: "Getting Things Done"
From the McDonnell Newsroom
http://www.bobmcdonnell.com/
February 26, 2008

Attorney General Bob McDonnell has written an op-ed for the Virginia Blog, "The Virginian Federalist." The op-ed, entitled "Getting Things Done" focuses on the seven campaign promises the Attorney General made when running for office in 2005 and how each one of those promises has been achieved in office. To read the op-ed please visit: The Virginian Federalist blog.

Getting Things Done

I am now more than halfway through my term as the 44th Attorney General of Virginia. That's hard to believe. Time moves quickly though, and already the attention of political observers has turned to upcoming elections. However, even as we look ahead, I think a little time spent looking back is in order.

Every campaign season voters are inundated with promises and pledges. Then we move forward, and rarely is a glance back afforded. But a vibrant and participatory democracy is dependent upon faith being kept between candidates and voters. Accountability matters. Rhetoric must lead to results or citizens lose confidence.

With this in mind I have recently gone back through the platform we ran on in our 2005 campaign. I want to be accountable for how we have done once in office.

I am pleased to report that the proposals we made in 2005 have been enacted.

When I ran for Attorney General we made seven major campaign promises. If elected, we pledged to:

+ Protect Children from Sexual Predators

+ Take Dangerous Drug Dealers off our Streets

+ Defend Virginians against 21st Century Crimes like Identity Theft

+ Combat Gang Violence

+ Strengthen Virginians' Property Rights

+ Curb Frivolous Prisoner Lawsuits

+ Protect Virginians from Terrorist Threats.

Here is what we have accomplished:

Protect Children from Sexual Predators

A cornerstone of our first legislative agenda was passing "Jessica's Law" in Virginia, establishing a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence for certain sexual predators who commit violent crimes against children. We created a state of the art Sex Offender Registry. We instituted GPS monitoring for certain sexually violent predators upon release, and an improved civil commitment process to detain the most dangerous. We also instituted proactive, innovative educational programs to teach children about Internet safety.

Take Dangerous Drug Dealers off our Streets

When I ran for Attorney General I spoke about the importance of getting drug dealers off of our streets and away from our children. In particular I was concerned that we were failing to go after the "mid-level" drug dealers through whom so much of the drug traffic flows. With the help of Del. Rob Bell and Sen. Ken Stolle, we created a new "mini-kingpin" statute that imposed a 5-year mandatory minimum sentence and a fine of up to $1 million on these mid-level drug dealers.

Defend Virginians against 21st Century Crimes like Identity Theft
Virginia has a reputation as a national leader in combating 21st Century crimes. We pledged to continue to improve our laws. We have done so. In the 2006 session we increased the number of identity theft crimes that are prosecutable as a felony. We have expanded our Identity Theft passport program for victims, publish informative booklets and educate the public about this fast growing but preventable crime.

Combat Gang Violence
I believe we have to approach the gang problem with punishment and prevention, by enacting tougher penalties for gang members, and creating new opportunities for young people to keep them out of gangs. We are doing this. We passed legislation adding to the list of crimes that make someone eligible for prosecution under Virginia's gang participation laws. We've secured legislation that punishes gang recruitment, and we've given judges the ability to impose restrictions on interaction with gang members as part of an individual's terms of probation. In southside Richmond communities our innovative GRIP program is keeping young people gang-free by giving them positive opportunities, and has led to a significant decline in the crime rate in Richmond.

Strengthen Virginians' Property Rights
In the case of Kelo v. New London, decided in the middle of the 2005 campaign, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the government broad authority to take private property for public purposes. It was a bad decision, and it spurred us to act. It was not an easy fight. However, on July 1st, 2007 our legislation protecting private property rights, championed by Del. Rob Bell, Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, Sen. Steve Newman and Sen. Tommy Norment became law. This legislation creates strict limitations regarding any taking of private property, and forbids the taking of private land when the primary purpose is private financial gain, private benefit, an increase in tax base or revenues, or an increase in employment.

Curb Frivolous Prisoner Lawsuits
Frivolous prisoner lawsuits have a debilitating effect on our courts system, and the professionals who work in it. These lawsuits waste taxpayer dollars and take precious time away from more important matters. Working with Del. Terry Kilgore we passed our proposals to curb frivolous prisoner lawsuits by giving judges discretion on issuing subpoenas, and permitting the dismissal of certain inmate lawsuits without the need for hearings.

Protect Virginians from Terrorist Threats
Virginians are well aware that the Commonwealth is a target for terrorists. We must be prepared for these threats. Working with Del. Beverly Sherwood and Sen. William Wampler we codified the mission and outlined the preparedness and security duties of the Office of Commonwealth Preparedness and the Secure Commonwealth Panel, and made this office permanent. We also changed the funding structure to be based on threat, and conducted a legal table-top exercise to prepare all state agencies for coordination in the event of an attack.

Records matter. I am pleased to say that we have kept our campaign promises, and through our work we have begun to build a safer and stronger Virginia. There is much more to be done. As we unveil new policy proposals I hope voters will look at our record and know that we are committed to solving problems and getting results for the citizens of Virginia.

Bob McDonnell is the 44th Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia

Letter From McCain '08 Campaign Manager Rick Davis: Join the McCain Aces Today

Dear Friend,

It has been an exciting and hard-fought few months. Support from McCainiacs nationwide fuels our campaign and helps spread our message to fellow supporters who will cast primary votes.

You are one of our strongest supporters, and I join the Senator and our entire campaign organization in expressing our deep gratitude for your commitment.

Your steadfast support fueled a surging campaign through the primaries that is now poised to win the Republican nomination. We should all be proud to stand with John McCain he is ready to be the next President of the United States.

As a special way of saying thanks, we have a unique opportunity for you to stand up and be recognized through our new 'McCain Aces' supporter group. With a donation of $25 dollars or more, you will become a 'McCain Ace' and your name will be permanently featured on our website's 'McCain Aces' board. This wall of recognition will be a record of your support for John McCain. It takes courage to stand with the right presidential candidate through thick and thin, we want to recognize your efforts and commitment.

Please make a donation today by following this link. Once you've made your contribution, your name will appear on www.JohnMcCain.com/McCainAces.

The more Aces we have on our board, the better. After you join, please ask your friends, family, co-workers and neighbors to join you in taking a public stand for John McCain.
We have already begun to see the stepped-up attacks from our Democratic opponents and the liberal media. Our country needs John McCain as its next commander in chief, and it's up to us - his most dedicated supporters - to ensure he is the Republican nominee for president. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Rick Davis, Campaign Manager

Let the Games Begin! Obama to Hillary: You are running a Shameful, Fear Mongering Campaign!

What's all this about? Check out the picture above from Drudge. Clearly the Clinton campaign must be trying to make certain inferences...Let the dirty politics begin. Thankfully on the Democrat side! Huck time to move along on March 4th at midnight or sooner.

The Associated Press photograph above portrays Obama wearing a white turban and a wraparound white robe presented to him by elders in Wajir, in northeastern Kenya.

Obama's estranged late father was Kenyan and Obama visited the country in 2006, attracting thousands of well-wishers. The Drudge Report posted the photograph today and said it was being circulated by "Clinton staffers" and quoted an e-mail from an unidentified campaign aide.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe immediately accused Clinton's campaign of "the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election."

Washington Times: 171 foreign-born criminal sex offenders targeted, deported

Criminal aliens targeted, deported
Washington Times
February 21, 2008
By Seth McLaughlin

RICHMOND — Virginia's attorney general and federal immigration officials yesterday said they are in the process of deporting 171 foreign-born criminal sex offenders, including about 20 living in Northern Virginia. "

The bottom line is Virginia is not going to be a place where criminal illegal aliens will have any safety," said Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell, a Republican. "We are going to make sure that those people who come here illegally and violate the criminal laws of Virginia, are detained, prosecuted and deported."

Mr. McDonnell, who plans to run for governor next year, said the offenders facing deportation were a mix of illegal aliens and immigrants with temporary legal status. "

Among the sex offenders we've arrested on the street are those convicted of rape, carnal knowledge of a minor, sexual battery, sexual abuse and taking liberties with children," said Bill Reid, special agent in charge for the D.C. office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The state and federal partnership, dubbed "Operation Cold Play," falls under the umbrella of ICE's "Operation Predator," targeting sex offenders across the country. "
***
In July, Mr. McDonnell requested state police thumb through the roughly 14,500 names in Virginia's registry to find all those who were foreign-born.

State police shared the resulting list of 527 names with ICE to determine which persons were illegally present or "aliens who had committed crimes," Mr. McDonnell said.

From that list, federal officials discovered 135 "convicted criminal alien sex offenders" were being held in state prisons or local jails in Virginia, 84 had already left or been deported and 36 were walking the streets after having been released by the Department of Corrections.

Alexandria had the highest number with eight, Manassas had four, and Woodbridge had three.
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In Latest Virginia Polling, McCain Handily Beats Obama and Clinton

Good news for the Commonwealth. With a solid 9-point victory on February 12, the latest Virginia Rasmussen Poll published on February 21, 2008 shows our man Johnny Mac leading Sen. Obama by 5% and Sen. Clinton by 10%. It doesn't hurt that the bogus NYT article is rallying Conservatives to unite their support for McCain. Conservatives cannot trust the NYT. NYT Exec. Editor Bill Keller should be ashamed.

John McCain 49%
Barack Obama 44%

John McCain 51%
Hillary Clinton 41%